Jul 29, 2021 in Member Spotlights by DIACC

Spotlight on Trust Science

1.What is the mission and vision of Trust Science?

Trust Science ® is a FinTech SaaS that delivers Credit Bureau 2.0 ® / Credit Bureau + ™. Its mission is to help deserving people get the loans they deserve. The service gives lenders highly accurate scores about underbanked and financially stressed borrowers in a fair, ethical and compliant way. This solution repairs the on-ramp to the modern credit economy, improving financial inclusivity while simultaneously boosting lender profitability.

2. Why is trustworthy digital identity critical for existing and emerging markets?

Even in multi-billion dollar credit bureaus, data often crosses individuals, leading to frequent mix-ups and inaccurate credit reporting (i.e. lost opportunities for deserving borrowers or fraud committed by un-deserving people). With a trustworthy digital identity and interoperable digital credentials, lenders can ensure that individual data is correct and correctly attributed. As well, given the trends in Consumer Protection and Privacy laws, trustworthy identity is the first step toward returning control and consent to the use of personal data back to its rightful owners. Furthermore, in the rapidly emerging market of alternative credit underwriting, where Trust Science is a leader, digital identity enables new application processes, giving new-age credit bureaus fast and secure access to more data points for more accurate scoring. Trust Science believes that digital identity solutions will form the backbone of financially inclusive credit scoring and will be instrumental in a variety of other contexts.

3. How will digital identity transform the Canadian and global economy? How does your organization address challenges associated with this transformation?

Interoperable digital credentials will transform all economies by significantly reducing cost and time for all forms of applications and sharing sensitive, verified information. Trust Science is designed to be a compliant service in all jurisdictions so that it can improve borrowing outcomes for global citizens and lenders. This is evidenced, in part, by a massive patent and trademark estate (comprising over 4 dozen patents, trademarks and pending patents across 18 different countries, and counting.) To support this transformation, Trust Science is pioneering the application of digital identity in the credit reporting industry. It is a Founding Steward of the Sovrin.org Identity network alongside industry heavyweights and it has now proudly joined DIACC. It will also provide services/consulting and its Smart Consent™ software to lenders and their borrowers to enable a transition to the use of digital credentials in loan applications, as digital wallets proliferate among consumers. As well, the company is working with regulatory bodies in both Canada (OSFI) and in the U.S. (RFI submission re: Explainable AI to 5 federal agencies in June 2021) to ensure that modern technology and its capabilities are fully understood and appreciated by all stakeholders, especially the topmost banking regulators.

4. What role does Canada have to play as a leader in this space?

Canada undisputedly has the technological capabilities and knowledge needed to be a global leader in digital identity and trust services. A strong supporter of digital identity standards, Trust Science is excited to be a part of that leadership, especially with the Canadian government’s “User-Centric Verifiable Digital Credentials” initiatives.

At a practical and real-world level, Canada shares the world’s longest border with the world’s biggest and most advanced economic and technological actor.  It is incumbent on a partner in such a relationship to meet or beat best practices in all matters of identity and services (like money transfer) that rely on trust and KYC. Turning to the global space, Canada must continue to support domestically-driven innovations to maintain its position of leadership and continue to set the global pace of digital identity standards in the customary Canadian way: fair, ethical, and inclusive.

5. Why did your organization join the DIACC?

Trust Science joined DIACC to facilitate partnerships with other members that will further the adoption of emerging digital credential standards. The company believes that these partnerships will form the foundation of a strong Canadian ecosystem of digital identity companies and that all the different players’ collective experiences working on the cutting-edge of the tightly regulated lending industry will provide mutually valuable insights among each other.  Trust Science looks forward to networking and collaborating with other DIACC members in a way that helps Canada maintain its reputation for having a very strong banking/lending sector and healthy financial (including Insurance industry) institutions.

6. What else should we know about your organization?

Trust Science provides automated loan underwriting solutions leveraging traditional credit bureaus’ data, alternate data, and user-permissioned data. Given the risk associated with centrally stored personal data accessed during the loan application process, Trust Science aims to enable migration to decentralized digital credentials that will increase security and privacy while also significantly simplifying the application process. Put simply, Trust Science offers lending leaders a fair and ethical way of scoring financially stressed or under-banked customers, right now.